We currently find ourselves in the unique period of the Jewish calendar known the Omer. This is the 50 day period between the beginning of Pesach and the holiday of Shavuous. There are many deep kabbalistic works dedicated to explaining the significance of this period. I am not someone who is familiar with this area of Torah but even on the surface there is much significance which I would like to share. Although this week’s Parsha is Acharei Mos, I will forgo the lessons our Parsha teaches and focus on the Omer. Perhaps we can tap into the energy of this period and harness it to elevate ourselves to higher levels of spiritual achievement.
Our Exodus from Egypt went beyond our physical liberty from Egyptian servitude it was actually a liberation of our spirit from bondage of being engulfed in the Egyptian society and its culture. To appreciate this liberty we must appreciate what our Sages teach us regarding the power of outside influences that Man is subject to. They teach us that when a person lives in an environment which promotes a given lifestyle and philosophy he will be influenced by that environment and will absorb that lifestyle and philosophy. Whether he is on a higher or lower social standing he will invariably be influenced. This applies to positive lifestyles as well as negative ones. Given that our people were living in Egypt for over 200 years we were subject to that very pervasive culture and were seriously influenced by it. It was a very decadent society which stood in direct opposition to the lifestyle and philosophy necessary for receiving the Torah. It was therefore necessary to purge ourselves from the dark Egyptian culture that we absorbed and to prepare ourselves for the pure enlightening culture of the Torah. That transition could not begin as long as we were in Egypt. The liberation of our people allowed that transition to begin. Hence, Pesach celebrates much more than our physical freedom and even more than our spiritual freedom. Pesach celebrates our commencement to the transitioning process which prepared us for receiving the Torah.
This period of the Omer is this period during which we transition from purging ourselves from Egyptian culture to HaShem’s culture. A person may plant grass whenever he wishes and will achieve a certain level of success if done properly. However, there are specific times on the calendar which are better suited. The same is true with everything in life. Certain times are better suited than others for different things.
Our period of the Omer is best suited for transitioning from Egyptian culture to Torah culture. The only question is; what is Egyptian culture and what is Torah culture?
These two cultures are diametrically opposite each other. Both Egyptian and Torah cultures focus on both the physical and the spiritual existence of Man. The difference lies in who serves who. The Egyptian cultural model was that it is important to address Man’s spiritual welfare to further his physical existence. To that end they worshiped the stars, the zodiac signs and other icons and were heavily involved in pagan rites. However, the function of this involvement was to progress their physical and decadent lifestyle. Their understanding was that by worshiping the gods their physical existence would be enhanced.
The Torah culture on the other hand was that it was important to partake in the physical pleasures and opportunities that life offered to further one’s spiritual existence. To that end we find many mitzvos in the Torah which expect us to celebrate every Shabbos with three meals and to rejoice on the holidays with good food and wine, to dress up with nice clothing. There are many mitzvos that involve eating and drinking. However, the function of this involvement is to progress our spiritual welfare.
To frame it in a succinct form we can say that Egyptian culture subordinates the spiritual to serve the physical while the Torah culture subordinates the physical to serve the spiritual. The end result is that Egyptian culture prioritizes the physical and the Torah prioritizes the spiritual.
These 50 days of the Omer are days when our efforts to improve our spiritual existence will find great success. So while we partake of this wonderful world HaShem gave us let us do so with the focus for the sake of advancing our spiritual development and we will see much growth.
We currently find ourselves in the unique period of the Jewish calendar known the Omer. This is the 50 day period between the beginning of Pesach and the holiday of Shavuous. There are many deep kabbalistic works dedicated to explaining the significance of this period. I am not someone who is familiar with this area of Torah but even on the surface there is much significance which I would like to share. Although this week’s Parsha is Acharei Mos, I will forgo the lessons our Parsha teaches and focus on the Omer. Perhaps we can tap into the energy of this period and harness it to elevate ourselves to higher levels of spiritual achievement.
Our Exodus from Egypt went beyond our physical liberty from Egyptian servitude it was actually a liberation of our spirit from bondage of being engulfed in the Egyptian society and its culture. To appreciate this liberty we must appreciate what our Sages teach us regarding the power of outside influences that Man is subject to. They teach us that when a person lives in an environment which promotes a given lifestyle and philosophy he will be influenced by that environment and will absorb that lifestyle and philosophy. Whether he is on a higher or lower social standing he will invariably be influenced. This applies to positive lifestyles as well as negative ones. Given that our people were living in Egypt for over 200 years we were subject to that very pervasive culture and were seriously influenced by it. It was a very decadent society which stood in direct opposition to the lifestyle and philosophy necessary for receiving the Torah. It was therefore necessary to purge ourselves from the dark Egyptian culture that we absorbed and to prepare ourselves for the pure enlightening culture of the Torah. That transition could not begin as long as we were in Egypt. The liberation of our people allowed that transition to begin. Hence, Pesach celebrates much more than our physical freedom and even more than our spiritual freedom. Pesach celebrates our commencement to the transitioning process which prepared us for receiving the Torah.
This period of the Omer is this period during which we transition from purging ourselves from Egyptian culture to HaShem’s culture. A person may plant grass whenever he wishes and will achieve a certain level of success if done properly. However, there are specific times on the calendar which are better suited. The same is true with everything in life. Certain times are better suited than others for different things.
Our period of the Omer is best suited for transitioning from Egyptian culture to Torah culture. The only question is; what is Egyptian culture and what is Torah culture?
These two cultures are diametrically opposite each other. Both Egyptian and Torah cultures focus on both the physical and the spiritual existence of Man. The difference lies in who serves who. The Egyptian cultural model was that it is important to address Man’s spiritual welfare to further his physical existence. To that end they worshiped the stars, the zodiac signs and other icons and were heavily involved in pagan rites. However, the function of this involvement was to progress their physical and decadent lifestyle. Their understanding was that by worshiping the gods their physical existence would be enhanced.
The Torah culture on the other hand was that it was important to partake in the physical pleasures and opportunities that life offered to further one’s spiritual existence. To that end we find many mitzvos in the Torah which expect us to celebrate every Shabbos with three meals and to rejoice on the holidays with good food and wine, to dress up with nice clothing. There are many mitzvos that involve eating and drinking. However, the function of this involvement is to progress our spiritual welfare.
To frame it in a succinct form we can say that Egyptian culture subordinates the spiritual to serve the physical while the Torah culture subordinates the physical to serve the spiritual. The end result is that Egyptian culture prioritizes the physical and the Torah prioritizes the spiritual.
These 50 days of the Omer are days when our efforts to improve our spiritual existence will find great success. So while we partake of this wonderful world HaShem gave us let us do so with the focus for the sake of advancing our spiritual development and we will see much growth.
